Tag Archives: Broken Hope

Original Broken Hope Drummer Ryan Stanek Passes Away At Age 42

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Ryan Stanek. Photo Credit: Stephanie Cabral.

Ryan Stanek. Photo Credit: Stephanie Cabral.

Original Broken Hope drummer and co-founder Ryan Stanek has passed away at the age of 42. Guitarist and co-founder Jeremy Wagner issued this statement via Facebook:

“I was stunned to hear of Ryan’s passing and I’m still not believing it. Though Ryan and I didn’t talk that often since he split from BH many years ago, we did correspond once in awhile, and we always wished each other well in whatever endeavors we were pursuing. Ryan was always an EXTREMELY talented man. When we first met, he was the BEST metal drummer within a 100-mile radius, and Joe Ptacek and I were fortunate to have this amazing drum-kid in our own backyard!
Ryan co-founded BROKEN HOPE with Joe and me. We were the core…just the 3 of us, in the beginning, all in high school. Ryan also designed the very first BROKEN HOPE logo, which was a “circular logo” we used on our first flyers and backdrop.
With all that, Ryan’s artistic talents went BEYOND drums and drawing, he also played acoustic guitar incredibly well, wrote some of the segues on the earlier BH albums, contributed his own lyrical-parts on the “Swamped In Gore” album , and also, Ryan became a singer-songwriter post BROKEN HOPE, in other bands he formed where he expressed his art his own way, and very well-done.
Ryan set the bar for death-metal drumming when we recorded, “Loathing.” Specifically, the track, “Siamese Screams” is a song that measures any drummer’s worth if he or she can play it to Ryan’s original level.
If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t stay more connected with Ryan—especially after Joe’s passing—but I’m HOPING he’d understand as many of us (like me) live in the illusion that we’ll live forever and reconnect down the road later. Unfortuantely, Ryan left too early for me to hug him and hang with him again and catch up.
So, Ryan Stanek, I’m so very sorry to see you go—and Brian Griffin (ex-BH) also tells me personally that he wishes he could see you off, but he’s in Australia right now. If you can hear my words here, please know that I’ll NEVER forget YOU…you enriched and changed my life for the better, BROKEN HOPE would never have existed without you, and most important: I’m extremely grateful to have known you, and to have known you as my “friend” when we were young men—and also, the last time we ever spoke.
If there’s a heaven, I wish you travel well, Ryan…and I imagine you and Joe have met up and are having a blast.
Much love…Jeremy (aka: PECK)”
Ryan Stanek’s official obituary and online Guest Book can be found here:
http://www.strangfh.com/…/mobil…/view/fh_id/10834/id/2992430

 


Broken Hope Introduce New Guitarist and Bassist To Lineup

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Broken Hope. Photo by Tom Hane.

Broken Hope. Photo by Tom Hane.

Broken Hope has recently overhauled their lineup by adding bassist Diego Soria (Disgorge) and new lead guitarist Matt Szlachta (ex-Chimaira, Dirge Within).

Band guitarist and founder JEREMY WAGNER says:

“I’m far beyond delighted with our new members–Diego and Matt. Both of these guys are old friends of mine, and both are amazing musicians of the highest order. Diego’s history with extreme death-metaller’s DISGORGE and Matt’s contributions to CHIMAIRA bring a new level of professionalism and brutality to BROKEN HOPE. Moreover, Diego and Matt possess a true love for death metal and grind. Their passion for extreme metal was something their predecessors lacked–and it’s a most-welcome adrenaline-shot that BROKEN HOPE needed badly. SEE YOU ALL IN 2015–STRONGER & SICKER THAN EVER!”

The band has announced upcoming live dates:

Apr 11: ROYAL METAL FEST – Aarhus, DK (w/DESTRUCTION & more)
Apr 17: DOOM ROTTEN DEATH FESTIVAL – BERLIN, DE
Apr 19: NEUROTIC DEATH FEST – Tilburg, NE (w/BLOODBATH, HATE ETERNAL, IMMOLATION, INTERNAL BLEEDING, OBITUARY, & more)
Apr 25: INSANE INSANITY FEST – Erlenbach Am Main, DE (w/INTERNAL BLEEDING, INTERNAL SUFFERING, PROFANITY, & more)
Jul 09: OBSCENE EXTREME – Trutnov, CZ (w/PIG DESTROYER, TERRORIZER, INTERNAL BLEEDING, NAUSEA, HIRAX, & more)
Jul 11: ROCK MARATON FEST – Budapest, HU (w/THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, HATEBREED, THE EXPLOITED, DESTRUCTION, & more)
Jul 25: STONEHENGE FESTIVAL – Steenwijk, NE (w/DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, MARDUK, HIRAX, & more)
Jul 30: GOTHOOM FESTIVAL – Nova Bana, SL (w/INSOMNIUM, AGOLLOCH, CRYPTOPSY, CATTLE DECAPITATION, & more)
Sep 12: FULL TERROR ASSAULT–OPEN AIR FESTIVAL – Cave-In-Rock, IL (*The FIRST “OPEN AIR” Death Fest in the USA!)

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Broken Hope Parts Ways With Bassist Shaun Glass and Guitarist Chuck Wepfer

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Bassist Shaun Glass and guitarist Chuck Wepfer have been Chicago death metallers Broken Hope to focus on their new band, The Bloodline. Glass said in a statement:

“We have been very focused and busy with our main band THE BLOODLINE so much that we haven’t had any time to be part of BROKEN HOPE for the last 4-5 months as we can’t commit to two bands 100 percent. That said, we aren’t a part of BROKEN HOPE anymore, but we wish them and their new members, Matt Szlachta (DIRGE WITHIN, CHIMAIRA) and Diego Soria (DISGORGE), the best with what they do. And to all the amazing BROKEN HOPE fans, we will see you on the road.”


Neurotic Deathfest Announce 2015 Initial line up

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Neurotic Deathfest has added even more names to its 2015 bash. Floridian Death Metal legends Obituary have joined the bill along with Death Metal supergroup Bloodbath who will also be taking to the stage at the annual festival in Tilburg Netherlands from the 17th to the 19th April 2015. Tickets are available now.
Press Release: Neurotic Deathfest 2015 announces Obituary and more

Europe’s premier indoor extreme metal festival, Neurotic Deathfest, has announced new names for the 2015 instalment, set to take place at 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands on April 17-19, 2015. Four new acts are confirmed: headliner Obituary and Gorod, Kronos and Holocausto Canibal. The organization earlier confirmed heavyweight acts such as Bloodbath and Immolation. Tickets are available through neuroticdeatfest.com.

With the confirmation of Obituary, Neurotic Deathfest adds yet another headliner to the already massive line-up of this year’s festival. Originally formed in 1984 in Boston, this United States-based band is considered one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. The album ‘The End Complete’ is the bestselling pure death metal album ever in the genre, selling over 100.000 copies in the US and more than a quarter million copies worldwide. Their last album ‘Inked In Blood’ came out in 2014 and is the first album in 5 years. The French bands Kronos and Gorod and Holocausto Canibal from Portugal are also confirmed for Neurotic Deathfest 2015. Despite the already impressive running order, the organization still has to announce more than 15 acts.

These names have all been confirmed for Neurotic Deathfest 2015: Bloodbath (SWE)
Obituary (US)
Immolation (US)
Hate Eternal (US)
Devourment (US)
Nader Sadek (US)
Broken Hope (US)
Pyrexia (US)
Tribulation (SWE)
Internal Suffering (COL)
Benighted (FRA)
Dead Congregation (GRE)
Disavowed (NL)
Soulburn (NL)
Liquid Graveyard (UK)
Mass Infection (GRE)
Gorod (FRA)
Kronos (FRA)
Holocausto Canibal (POR)
Jig-Ai (CHZ)
Nominon (SWE)
Unfathomable Ruination (UK)
Acranius (GER)
Cardiac Arrest (US)
Incinerate (US)
Neuroma (UK)
Slaughter To Prevail (RUS)

Eleven years ago the organization behind Neurotic Deathfest started with the desire to create the ideal festival for fans of extreme metal. Initially started as an event with 250 visitors and only 8 artists, the Neurotic Deathfest has grown into the biggest extreme metal festival of Europe, with more than 45 acts per edition. The festival will be held for the 12th successive year, of which the coming edition will be the 8th at the 013 venue. This makes Neurotic Deathfest not only the biggest indoor festival in Europe aimed at extreme metal, but also the longest running.

Tickets for Neurotic Deathfest 2015 are currently on sale through www.neuroticdeathfest.com, www.ticketmaster.nl and the 013 box office. Ticket options: 1-day tickets for Friday (€ 45.00) and Saturday or Sunday (€ 50.00), 2-day tickets for Friday and Saturday (€ 85.00) and Saturday and Sunday (€ 90.00) and 3-day tickets (€ 95.00). All prices are exclusive of service charges.

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Obituary, Gorod, Kronos, Holocausto Canibal Added To Neurotic Deathfest 2015

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neurotic deathfest 2015

Neurotic Deathfest 2015 has confirmed headliners Obituary and Gorod, Kronos and Holocausto Canibal to their lineup. The event will be held at 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands on April 17-19, 2015.

The confirmed lineup for this event is as follows:

Bloodbath (SWE)
Obituary (US)
Immolation (US)
Hate Eternal (US)
Devourment (US)
Nader Sadek (US)
Broken Hope (US)
Pyrexia (US)
Tribulation (SWE)
Internal Suffering (COL)
Benighted (FRA)
Dead Congregation (GRE)
Disavowed (NL)
Soulburn (NL)
Liquid Graveyard (UK)
Mass Infection (GRE)
Gorod (FRA)
Kronos (FRA)
Holocausto Canibal (POR)
Jig-Ai (CHZ)
Nominon (SWE)
Unfathomable Ruination (UK)
Acranius (GER)
Cardiac Arrest (US)
Incinerate (US)
Neuroma (UK)
Slaughter To Prevail (RUS)

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New England Metal & Hardcore Festival Day 1: The Palladium, Worcester MA

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It’s that time of year once again, New England Metalfest graced our state as the Northeast’s best bang for your buck metal experienced, matched by none. I was particularly excited because for me personally, having lived in Massachusetts for almost a decade and being a fan and attendee of the fest even before that, this is the real hallmark of the spring concert season for us. Now in its 16th year, it is an institution here to stay, and led by co-founder/scene Svengali Scott Lee of Massconcerts, it’s always a good time. The venue was packed with all kinds of different bands on two stages, cool vendors and band merch, and tons of fun people from the business, and our scene to mingle with. A special shout out to my friends Liz and Dave from Earsplit PR, who handled all the press these past few years, and as always do a bang up job. Extra props go to Meg Loyal who handled photography for Ghost Cult the entire weekend, freeing up yours truly to focus on coverage.

At times the fest has flirted with getting as big as four days including a pre-fest party, but this year we got down to a much more sensible, shorter kickoff night, followed by two long days. Since festivals like this are more like a marathon than a sprint in terms of staying fresh, this was a lot more manageable.

 

cop problem (2)

We got to the Palladium a little bit after doors opened and after getting our credentials handled, we made it down to the main stage in time to catch the last few songs from local boys Death Rattle. Playing a modern metal/power groove style akin to Lamb of God, early Sepultura, or Pantera, the early crowd was certainly digging them, especially when they closed with Pantera’s ‘A New Level’. Afterward, I hit up the upstairs, smaller stage for a while. Early in the fest I tend to run around between the two stages more and so on Thursday I tried to see as many bands as I could. Catching Cop Problem and Enabler back to back. For the initiated, Cop Problem hail from Philly a.k.a. Killadelphia. They are not here to party, as much as they are here to kick your brain in with passionate, intelligent crust punk for the discerning fan. Front woman Deb is about as accomplished a screamer as anyone on either stage this weekend, and the band may take themselves seriously, but they are fun live. Enabler is one of my favorite crusty bands of the last few years too. Easily at home with hardcore crowds as they are black vest wearing kids who d-beat-off at a mere mention of them. Legit and well deserved hype aside, Enabler crushes and their new album Flies (Compound Records) is an early year favorite of mine. It was over all too quick. Ugh.

 scarsoftomorrow (3 of 13)

After catching a bit of Scars of Tomorrow, and filling up on a heavenly fig and cheese pannini’s that I ate all weekend and an double espresso (I shit you not) next door at the little cafe next to the venue I am now in love with, I headed back in to check out Oceano. Having just seen them at the same venue a few months earlier, you know what this band brings to the table live. There are better bands doing death core and at their best, tech death inspired music, it really is just beatdown core at its heart. However, led by front man Adam Warren, they bring the chaos live and always put on a great show. Their new album Contagion (Earache) has been overlooked this year. Next up was Darkest Hour, who is just beginning another album cycle with new music to be released soon. DH is always killer live and they seemed to have their own crowd in the house. I have seen them many times over the years and they never disappoint me.

bleedingthrough (10 of 17)

I caught the first half of the set for Bleeding Through and they were pretty damn amazing. The band is on a farewell tour of the east coast, before heading into retirement later in the year, and they left everything on that stage. There was a weird energy in the venue the entire set, and basically everyone losing their minds. Brandan Schiapatti brought his legendary A-game live. I will miss these guys a lot. They stole the show on this first day of the fest. I made it back to the side stage to see some of the evildoers in Rivers of Nihil last few songs. They were the first true death metal band of the weekend and accordingly, there was a nice crowd in to see them. They are just straight out brutal and technical with zero cheese factor. I wonder how big they will be in 3-5 years. Not caring much about the main stage for the rest of the day, I chilled out and saw Wilson and Broken Hope to close out the upstairs stage. Wilson was one of the most fun bands of the weekend. Their weird blend of proto-metal, thrash, doom, psychedelia and other stuff was spot on. I looked around the room and saw them minting new fans by the second. It was a reminder that from the underground comes tomorrow’s headliners, no doubt. Broken Hope followed after a bit of a long change over to their own gear from the standard back line. It was worth the wait because the death metal fans hung around and were rewarded. The band just slayed with their classic, second-wave death metal material and new songs off of Omen of Disease (Century Media). It was all made worth it by seeing Jeremy Wagner and Chuck Wepfer. It was like going to class at shred university. I felt bad for all the kids watching Emmure, who didn’t know any better, but should have.

 allthatremains (4 of 7)

Finally the first day was coming to a close and locals All That Remains readied to take the stage. They are a band I championed to people in the early days, and have seen many times on this very stage. However, the last third of their career, while seeing them scale the heights of popularity, I feel like their musical quality has taken a big hit. I’m happy for their success, but I long for the days of This Darkened Heart and even The Fall of Ideals. I just feel the catchier rock based songs the make now have no balls anymore. They always put on lively show, and you can’t deny they are entertaining, and despite the presence of fan favorites ‘Six’ and ‘This Darkened Heart’ in the set tonight, it was a pretty weak showing. I was even surprised the band didn’t pull out anything special for the metal fest crowd, owing to the bands local roots and many times playing the fest, but they didn’t. It was an anti-climactic end to a good day of fun and music. I headed home to sleep.

 allthatremains (7 of 7)

 

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Words: KEITH CHACHKES

Photos: MEG LOYAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

 


Haters Gonna Hate – Scott Lee of Mass Concerts & NEMHF

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Once again it is time for the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The sixteenth edition of the fest looks to be a great group of the finest death metal, black metal, hardcore, grindcore, crust punk, thrash (although less of it this year), metalcore, tech death, prog and power metal like few weekend long events in America can match. Held at the Worcester Palladium on two stages, it’s always a fun time and a great place to discover new bands and meet your heroes. Among the headline acts this year are Behemoth, Iced Earth, Nile, All That Remains, Goatwhore, Nails, Whitechapel, Bleeding Through, Darkest Hour, Broken Hope, Carnifex, Unearth, 1349, Inquisition, Sam Black Church, and many more. We caught up with the festival co-founder Scott Lee to discuss the 2014 incarnation of the fest.

We jumped into our conversation touching on the history of the fest and some of the surprising names on the bill:

“Sweet Sixteen! I think it’s pretty cool. I’m really excited about it! Thursday is going to be a regular door, so it’s going to feel like a regular show, just earlier doors. Doors are at five, so we just want to ease people into the madness! I’m really proud of this lineup with All That Remains, Emmure, the last east coast appearance of Bleeding Through, Gideon, Kublai Khan, and Oceano. Darkest Hour was just added. Broken Hope and Wilson were just added. It’s a bunch of cool bands. It’s kind of like you go out to drink: you have little base, and some snacks, and then you start chugging!”

“I just try to put on the best festival I can. I try to make the fans happy. I try to make everybody happy, but you can’t please everybody. The haters are gonna hate, but probably about 50% of the haters are still going to come. It’s going to be great.”
Scott-Lee-1

Scott took out the time to single out how proud he is to have Behemoth on this year’s lineup, as part of the inclusion of the Metal Alliance tour:

“Behemoth is one of the best bands in extreme heavy music today. They are on a huge comeback. He (Adam “Nergal” Darski) beat leukemia and that is hard as shit! Back in the early days of the earth they would build monuments to to a guy like that and I think somebody should today. That band is incredible, and they are great people too. They tried to take him out and he said “Fuck no! I gonna keep making music.” That band is sick! I think people are just jealous of him because he is trying to make something of himself. Back the guy, you know what I mean? Just because his lyrics or beliefs are of some nature, people are still human. He’s not hurting anyone. He is not committing murder, he’s not committing hate crimes. He’s making a name for himself and he’s repping Poland hard man, so back the motherfucker!”

 

All though a lot of spring tours in the US now plan their routing around Metalfest weekend, Scott makes sure to stay true to his roots and book the second stage, dominated by hardcore bands, first.

“I book that first. The second stage gets booked first and everything else comes into play afterwards. I look at other festivals like This Is Hardcore and other hardcore festivals and see what’s going on, and who is doing what. And by the way, did you see that This is Hardcore lineup? Oh my god! That is sick! I saw that and I hit up Joe Hardcore and sent a screen shot of the lineup and wrote “I quit!” (laughs) That is the best lineup I’ve ever seen in my life and I’ve been doing this for 22 years. But for our second stage we take the best of the best for hardcore, grindcore, that type of style. Nails, All Out War, Twitching Tongues, Ramallah, Reign Supreme, and you put them all on one show it’s gonna be sick! It’s gonna be a party.”

 

Having been long time supporters and attendees of the fest, we have seen the sponsors and partners list grow over time.

“Tama and Ibanez are our big sponsors. Tama is actually going to give away the back-line drum-set to a lucky fan that buys a ticket. You buy a ticket for the fest, your name goes into a raffle to win the drum-set that has been played by all of these bands. It’s like a $5000 drum-set You could go home with this on Saturday! All from Tama.”

Since Scott, and the company he works for, Mass Concerts books major acts, we asked his opinion of the recent Mayhem Festival lineup announcement.

“Mayhem fest is a different animal than we are. It’s a larger animal than we are. We are like a pitbull and they are like a fucking lion. That’s different. That’s the best analogy I can come up with. Looking at everything, their lineup has to put butts in the seats. That lineup has to get people out of the parking lot. Do I think that lineup sucks? No I don’t. I’m gonna to attend. You are not going to make everybody happy. Do I think it’s the strongest lineup ever? It’s a good lineup. I think it’s pretty cool personally. More people want to see death metal, and some people want to see Asking Alexandria, and some people want to see Killswitch Engage. You are not going to make everybody happy. But they are going to get thousands and thousands of people to go.”

nemhcf sxsw

The Fest also puts on a showcase at the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, TX as a way to bring up and coming bands to a great audience. The event this year was headlined by Veil of Maya and Comeback Kid. Scott gave us an account of the festival, including the harrowing car accident that happened: “I was literally four blocks away from that accident. And I was like “Fuck!” I have to say the Austin Police handled that awesomely, and the people of Austin, what I saw of them, were awesome. It was tragic and sad, but it doesn’t reflect on the festival. I hope it doesn’t leave a bad mark on the festival. I mean I live in Holyoke Massachusetts, and people do stupid shit here all the time. It’s just some fucking asshole who wants to be a rapper, go got in his car and killed people and hurt people. I hope it doesn’t put a black cloud over this. But the police did a great job. And the whole festival kept going strong. There were some memorial services and everything. As far as our showcase, it was there,m it was sold out and it was awesome. Dude, you know something? Where are you going to go where Lady Gaga gets pukes on someone, or gets puked on by someone? It was like a 12 foot burrito machine! It was great! awesome. House shows happen! I love house shows, they are great! I recommend everybody going to it.”

Get tickets to the fest here

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Keith (Keefy) Chahckes